February 28, 2006

"The events of the past couple of days are the direct result of undermining the institutions that make up the Republic of the Philippines," declared Senator Richard J. Gordon.  "The media, the military, and Congress have all been desecrated and damaged by the recent events, culminating in the state of emergency," he observed.   "The state of emergency must end and we must allow our institutions to work for our country," urged Gordon.

Gordon condemned the government takeover of the national newspaper, The Daily Tribune, calling this an unwarranted censorship or prior restraint and an infringement on the freedom of speech and press.   

"It is good and healthy to have media to bring to light to a President what a coterie of advisors might otherwise conceal or sugarcoat in their efforts to please," he said.   "Certainly, honest and responsible reporting, while sometimes personally painful for the subject, should never be restrained or muzzled, as in the case of the Daily Tribune now," Gordon continued.

Gordon also urged the people not to use the public institutions, like the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), to cause further insecurity and instability in the country.   "The military cannot govern.  In a democracy, civilian authority must, at all times, be supreme over the military," he added.   

"The AFP must be let alone of any partisan political hysteria because according to the Constitution, the armed forces must be insulated from partisan politics and no member of the military must engage directly or indirectly in any partisan political activity, except to vote," he said.   

"Any violation of this Constitutional prohibition on the AFP must be prosecuted immediately to prevent military adventurism.   Otherwise, we will have no peaceful country under a regime of democracy to speak of," stated Gordon.

Likewise, Gordon added that the Executive, in imprudently resisting the powers of Congress to perform its sacred task of checks and balances, has hurt the separation of powers between the Executive and the Legislative branches of Government through instruments like Executive Order No. 464.   

Meanwhile, Gordon assured the people of the responsible performance by Congress of its legislative functions so that "it can work in harmony with the three branches of government without sacrificing its independence."

Gordon stated that "the civil and military unrest that we are experiencing right now is a necessary consequence of the political crisis resulting from undermining the institutions that ensure our security and stability, and guarantee our democracy."   

"We must all work within the framework of the Constitution," stated Gordon.   

"In the long run, the preservation of democracy and the rule of law is always paramount so we need to put closure and end this crisis right now by working under the remedies allowed by law," he explained.

Further, Gordon said that "the Administration and Opposition alike must break the habit of stubbornly resisting our democratic institutions in favor of quick-fixes like Executive Order No. 464, Proclamation No. 1017, coup d’etat, and even people power."

"The dignity and reputation of the Republic of the Philippines are at stake, and in the final analysis, the greatest loser in this situation will be our country if we do not end this state of emergency, and give the proper respect due to our democratic institutions," he continued.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006 Posted: 0603 GMT (1403 HKT)

"The Red Cross right now is slowly shifting into … relief mode, addressing people who have been evacuated from the area, providing them mass feeding," said Richard Gordon, the head of the Philippine National Red Cross, Richard Gordon.

The Associated Press reported that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo visited the headquarters of the relief operation, about one kilometer (0.6 miles) from Guinsaugon. She received a briefing from the provincial governor, shook hands with U.S. Marines and other rescue workers and met local residents, according to the AP.

Imelda Marcos, wife of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, arrived separately and kissed Arroyo on the cheek before the president left, according to the AP.

At least 16 villages in the area have been evacuated as officials fear other mountainsides could collapse. More than 2,700 people are in Red Cross evacuation centers, but at least 4,000 are believed to have left the area.

There are 1,037 people confirmed missing in Guinsaugon, following Friday’s mudslide, but Gordon said he expects that number to go up. Authorities believe about 1,875 people lived in the village on the island of Leyte before the disaster.

According to Gordon, only 85 bodies have been recovered. The National Bureau of Investigation has been called in for forensic examination.

Hopes were buoyed for a time on Monday as search teams thought they may have heard tapping noises, but later U.S. Marines involved in the search said they had found no evidence of signs of life. ( Watch why a doctor said offering hope would be cruel — 2:49)

A primary focus of the effort to find survivors in Guinsaugon village has been an elementary school, where 246 children and seven teachers were beginning their day’s lessons Friday at 9 a.m., when the 800-meter (2,625-foot) Mount Kanabag collapsed and tumbled into the sea-level village.

A police officer told officials he watched helplessly as the school, which held his wife and four children, was entombed "in seconds." ( Watch the massive swath of land the mud moved downhill — 1:26)

Rescuers believe the school is buried under about 30 meters of rubble, boulders and mud. The depth of the mud is making it impossible to use heavy equipment, such as tractors and bulldozers.

The Marines, digging in shifts of 40 men, tried to excavate a site where the school is believed to have been, but had to give up when holes they created kept collapsing.

Rescue specialists from Taiwan, Malaysia and Spain along with Philippine police, mine workers and members of the military are assisting in the search.

"As we’d dig deeper, we’d try to dig wider, but with the rain last night … there were little landslides happening around us," Lt. Jack Farley, who was heading the Marine contingent, told The Associated Press. "The soil here is so unstable."

It was also unclear if the scratching and tapping noises that were heard Monday came from survivors or just ground water or the mud settling.

"A few times we heard something, we think we heard something, because we really want to hear something," Farley said. "If there is anything at all, we’re gonna go there."

Accurate information was hard to come by, too.

"Even the local population has kind of lost their bearings," Farley said. "They don’t have those terrain features around to distinguish where something really is."

Although no survivors have been found since shortly after the mudslide on Friday, the Red Cross said the hunt for the living will go on despite the seemingly long odds.

"We will continue … for as long as the resources hold … and we intend to support … the effort to try and recover bodies," said Gordon.

Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, who is leading the government’s rescue effort, said the governors and mayors had warned residents about the possibility of landslides after weather forecasters announced in early February that the "La Nina" effect would dump above-average rainfall in South Asia.

The area has been deluged with more than 50 centimeters of rain this month, about four times the maximum of any previous month, and the rains have continued since the mudslide.

Although some villagers had evacuated in anticipation of the flood threat, many had returned to participate in a village celebration Friday.

Ways to Donate to the Philippine National Red Cross

For the Southern Leyte Disaster

1.  By Cash

The PNRC staff may pick up cash donations or donors may donate to the PNRC personally.   Cash donations can also be deposited through any of the following bank accounts listed below:

            1.  Peso Account

                 Bank:   Metro Bank, Port Area Branch

                 Account Name:   The Philippine National Red Cross

                 Account No.:   SA 3-041-63122-8

                 Bank:   Metro Bank, Port Area Branch

                 Account Name:   PNRC – Southern Leyte Relief Operations

                 Account No.: SA 151-3-15151391-4

            2.  Dollar Account

                 Bank:   Metro Bank, Port Area Branch, Manila, Philippines

                 Account Name:   The Philippine National Red Cross

                Account No.:   SA 2-151-00218-2

                Swift Code: MBTC PHMM

                 Bank:   Bank of the Philippine Islands, UN Branch, Manila, Philippines

                 Account Name:   The Philippine National Red Cross

                 Account No.:   SA 8114-00309-4

II.  By Check

      All checks must be payable to the Philippine National Red Cross and can be either delivered to PNRC National Headquarters or picked by a PNRC authorized representative.

III.  In-Kind

      We will appreciate if donations in kind are in good condition; and are not expired and damaged to make our rescue and relief efforts more efficient and effective.   Donations in kind can be delivered to the PNRC National Headquarters or can be arranged for pick up by our authorized representative.

IV.  Contact

For further inquiries, please contact the following:

             1. Ms. Gwendolyn Pang, Director of Fund Generation:

Mobile: +63 917 827 7421 or e-mail: gwenpang@redcross.org.ph

2. Ms. Charina Bognalbal, Membership and Fund Drive:

Mobile:  +63 917-805-7431 or e-mail: fundgen@redcross.org.ph

3.      Ms.   Edna Andales, Membership and Fund Drive

Mobile: +63 917-806-8523

4.      Fund Generation Department contact numbers:   

Ms. Annabelle Bartolome:   Telefax:   +63 2 525-5654

Ms. Julie Alemania:             Telefax:   +63 2 527 0575

       Ms. Thelma Aguilus:            Telefax:   +63 2 404-0979

"I came here to help - not to investigate."

There’s the side story about insensitivity, which critics have noted not only about our own media. When Senator Richard Gordon, on the scene as chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross, was asked about the cause of the stampede, he said, "I came here to help - not to investigate." (How could these "journalists" believe that the cause of accidents could be instantly determined? Get it first even if you get it wrong.) It was a stupid question, reminiscent of the broadcaster in a past tragedy in Baguio asking a man pinned down by steel, "How do you feel?" And then there are those who waved at the cameras, widely smiling, as they panned the scene.

Breakfast Table: By Adrian Cristobal

Tempo 2/6/2005

"If you give financial help to the least of your brethren, why make a public show of it?"

When I switched on the TV set to watch the aftermath of the tragedy at the Ultra, I was not surprised to see Sen. Dick Gordon at the scene helping out.

It was typical of Dick, who is chair of the Philippine National Red Cross, to be at the scene of a calamity.

In 1990, Dick was in Cabanatuan City when a school building collapsed, trapping many students and killing scores of them. Dick was not supposed to be there since he was then mayor of Olongapo City, but he went there just the same to help in the rescue operations.

During the fluvial parade tragedy in Bocaue, Bulacan, on July 2, 1993, Dick sent divers to retrieve bodies in the murky river. At that time he was chair of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

While he was campaigning in a Nueva Ecija town, the market burned. Senatorial candidate Dick Gordon got down from his vehicle and managed the firefighting operations.

Giving a helping hand to victims of tragedy is second nature to Dick.

I remember an anecdote about Dick in the aftermath of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption. A civic group from Manila went to Olongapo to hand over food and used clothing to Dick for victims of the disaster.

The group brought along a TV crew and news photographers for the occasion. The group wanted their generosity published in the national papers and seen on TV.

Dick Gordon didn’t attend the ceremony highlighting the donations received from the civic group. He said later he believed generosity should never be made public.

"If you give financial help to the least of your brethren, why make a public show of it?" he said.

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200511050407.htm

‘Red Cross on alert’

The Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) put all of its chapters nationwide on alert against the possible entry of avian influenza in the country.

PNRC chairman and Sen. Richard Gordon said each chapter must re-activate its "Chapter Core Disseminators" who underwent training on Public Health and Disaster Response and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

Gordon also instructed them to produce information materials on avian influenza that would be distributed in schools and community health centers.

"We have to be ready for the imminent threat of pandemic in Southeast Asia related to avian flu. There have been confirmed cases in our neighboring countries like Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

The PNRC has taken preparedness and response efforts to assist the government in its efforts to prep up for the possible advent of bird flu," he noted.

The country’s beefed up its preventive efforts against avian influenza with the onset of the migration season for wild birds coming from neighboring countries. It is feared that migratory birds will bring in the virus which has already affected Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Vietnam.

PNRC secretary Vic Liozo claimed that Avian Flu Preventive Education has already been integrated to all Red Cross training courses being offered nationwide.

Aside from these, PNRC volunteers have also been assigned to help in monitoring bird sanctuaries, poultry, pet shops, markets, cockpit arenas and slaughter houses.

"We don’t want to be caught off-guard when an outbreak hits us. The PNRC’s standard procedure is to predict, plan, prepare, practice, cope, mitigate, rescue, relieve and rehabilitate in each situation," Liozo added.

By Perseus Echeminada, Sheila Crisostomo, Paolo Romero
"RP-made drug vs bird flu sold soon" The Philippine Star 11/05/2005

*********

http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=55561

‘Ready mode’

The Philippine National Red Cross has placed its local affiliates on "ready mode" in anticipation of an avian flu outbreak.

PNRC chair Sen. Richard Gordon has ordered all Red Cross chapters to immediately reactivate and reorient the "chapter core disseminators" who had undergone public health and disaster response training during the SARS scare three years ago.

"We have to be ready for the imminent threat of pandemic in Southeast Asia related to the avian flu," Gordon said in a statement.

The PNRC will start distributing information and education materials about the disease to schools and health centers nationwide.

Avian flu preventive education has already been integrated in all Red Cross training courses, said PNRC secretary Vic Liozo.

By Christian V. Esguerra
"NO PATENT:RP may manufacture medicine vs bird flu
Inquirer News Service November 5, 2005

By Norman Bordadora
Philippine Daily Inquirer

PRESIDENT Macapagal-Arroyo has been badly served by her advisers who came up with such ill-advised and divisive policies as the calibrated pre-emptive response to rallies and the prohibition of Masses for the opposition in the churches near Malacañang, an administration senator said yesterday.

“The President should fire some of her advisers. They are letting [non-issues] become issues,” Sen. Richard Gordon said at the weekly Kapihan sa Sulo breakfast forum.

In remarks to reporters after the forum, Gordon said the President was “very ill-advised.”

“She’s drawing more flak…. I look at Gloria as somebody on the ropes. The President is afraid to do anything,” he said.

Gordon asked why the administration could not just let the anti-Arroyo protesters be. He said government officials should not infringe on the freedom of expression.

As for the request of the Presidential Security Group commander, Brig. Gen. Delfin Bangit, for the churches near the Palace to disallow Masses attended by anti-Arroyo forces, Gordon said Bangit “should have consulted lawyers, good lawyers.”

“A leadership that is afraid cannot lead…. A poor leadership that is afraid cannot make changes,” he said.

Gordon said the President should meet with the opposition.

“We already know what we disagree about. Let’s talk about what we can agree on,” he said.

Gordon said there were five things that Ms Arroyo should do to show that she was doing something concrete for the people.

He said the President should run after criminals, generate jobs by shifting the budget priorities to tourism and trade, boost tax collection, close the gap in education and health, and make the government “fast, fair, firm, friendly and forward-looking.”

“The government must stop going around the ropes and start hitting the right spots,” Gordon said.

http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=54969

Senator Richard Gordon yesterday urged President Arroyo to immediately address five urgent concerns "to prove her sincerity in governing the nation."

"The President needs to show that she is doing something concrete for the people," said Gordon, adding, "and so I propose the five things that PGMA should do right away."

Gordon enumerated the five things that PGMA should do: 1) run after the criminals – the smugglers, kidnappers, and drug traffickers; 2) generate jobs – shift budget to tourism and trade, the two main fund-generating departments of the country; 3) boost up tax collection and tax the "wants and not the needs;" 4) close the social gap in education and health; and 5) make the government "fast, fair, firm, friendly, and forward-looking in public service."

"The government must stop going around the ropes and should start hitting the right spots," said Gordon. According to Gordon, the ongoing Senate investigation on smuggling, for instance, has exposed the amount of money that the government has lost because of rampant illegal importation of right-hand drive vehicles. He said that having obtained the correct information, the government must now do the necessary action and run after the smugglers.

He also emphasized that the people need more job opportunities to empower them. So he proposed an additional budget for the promotion of tourism and for generation of foreign investments instead of focusing on debt servicing saying that, "what we have right now is a defensive budget that doesn’t prepare us for economic growth."

Gordon also reiterated his call not to tax power, cooking fuel, and processed food but to impose instead a tax on text messages.

"Let us tax the wants and not the needs," Gordon said emphasizing that, "we won’t die from less text messages while many will suffer if more taxes will be imposed on LPG and processed food."

The Manila Bulletin, 25 October 2005

http://www.mb.com.ph/MTNN2005102547526.html

Transcript of Interview 10/6/2005
Usaping Balita Media Forum
Serye Restaurant, Quezon Memorial Circle, Q.C.

ON CALIBRATED PRE-EMPTIVE RESPONSE (CPR)

INTERVIEWER: Medyo seryoso itong nangyayari dahil araw-araw may pinapalo. Marami na po ang nasasaktan at nagagalit, ano ba talaga ang policy na ito ng PNP dito sa usapin ng CPR.

GORDON: Unang-una, dapat ang kapulisan should punish the guy na nambatok. Katulad ng nangyari sa La-Salle-FEU game sa UAAP, binatukan si Arwin Santos, yari siya. Dapat ganoon kabilis. Yan ang kagandahan ng media, nakitang masama ang ginawa, hulihin natin—kung ako ang Mayor d’yan ikukulong ko agad iyan. In fact, the PLEBs (Peoples Law Enforcement Boards) can act there. Kapag nakita ka sa ganyang maling gawain sa mga pulis, kulong ka. But wala akong nakikitang ganyan. That makes it wrong.

May rules tayo at kung gusto ninyong magbago ‘yung rules dahil sinasabi ninyo na inuupuan ng mayor yung request para sa permit, kung sinasabi ninyo na gusto ninyo sa lahat ng lugar at hindi sa freedom park, then it is for the Supreme Court to interpret the law of the land not us kundi there will be anarchy.

Pangalawa, dapat ang pulis may tungkulin at ang rallyist ay may tungkulin din. Hindi lahat karapatan lang. Kapag lumalakad ka sa kalye hindi ka pwedeng pigilin. Hindi ka naman pwedeng mag-rally sa kalye sapagkat you are disturbing the rights of the others na. But on the other hand, kapag humingi ka ng permit at hindi ka binibigyan matagal ng mayor, dalhin mo kaagad sa korte. That is the way democracy works.

Nasa sidewalk ka. That is not a crime. You have the right to walk on the sidewalk and to walk on the streets but you cannot stop and stop the traffic to the prejudice of everybody. Kung ganoon ng gagawin mo hahanapan ka talaga ng permit. Ngayon, ang kailangan d’yan, ayoko ng maximum tolerance. Ayokong CPR. Ang CPR is life threatening not life saving.

May rules tayo at kung gusto ninyong magbago ‘yung rules dahil sinasabi ninyo na inuupuan ng mayor yung request para sa permit, kung sinasabi ninyo na gusto ninyo sa lahat ng lugar at hindi sa freedom park, then it is for the Supreme Court to interpret the law of the land not us kundi there will be anarchy.

I will even question the term CPR in the law itself because para bang pabor pa sa atin na tino-tolerate tayo kapag nag-rarali tayo. Hindi tama iyan. Dapat i-withdraw ‘yan. In fact I am going to ask the police, hihingiin ko sa kapulisan na alisin ninyo iyan CPR na sinasabi ninyong ‘yan. Wala kayong karapatan magsabi ng ganyan and the mere fact that you are saying that, you are already threatening the rights of the people to express themselves as an association or as an individual.

Alam ninyo dati naman akong demonstrator sa UP. Student council ako sa UP noong First Quarter Storm. Nakikita ko naman ang mga kasama ko na talagang minumura ang pulis pero syempre wag kayong mapipikon. Kaya nga lumabas ang tolerance, pinagpapasensyahan. Tungkulin ninyo iyon pero kapag pinalo ninyo ang demostrador that is going beyond. You are supposed to be the guardian of the law. You cannot break the law to enforce the law. So dapat kaagad tawagin ang pulis na iyon, lagyan agad ng administrative sanction and if necessary fire him if he has to be fired but people must know about it.

INTERVIEWER: Okey bawal yung pumalo pero sana ipagbawal din yung pagsapak, pagsipa at pagsakal.

Gen. SILVERIO ALARCIO: Doon sa aming hanay ay ginagawa na namin ang tamang hakbang upang maiwasan itong mga ganito. Alam po ninyo kanina nag-announce po ang ating Director NCR na bawal na ‘yung batuta sa mga CDM kase nakikita niya na ginagamit na pamukpok. So this is a positive response from the police. I think tama po yung sinabi ng ating good senator na both sides ay may responsibilidad. Hindi lang ang pulis ang gagawa ng hakbang upang maiwasan ang mga iyan kundi pati yung kabila.

GORDON: Dapat seguro general maipakita ninyo agad kung ano ang ginawa ninyo sa mga pulis na ‘yan . Iyan ang dapat makita. Kung mabilis kayong umaksiyon ay magkakaroon kayo ng credibility dahil sinasabi ninyo na ito ang tamang aksiyon. Hindi pwedeng sabihin na wala ng batuta. No. Hindi naman pwedeng walang proteksiyon ang pulis sapagkat kung minsan binabato din ang pulis pero kapag nagkamali ang pulis, huli ka, out ka strike out ka. Iyan ang dapat.

GEN ALARCIO: Gagawin po natin iyan at ipa-follow up natin ang investigation na mangyayari and we will inform kung ano ang hakbang at ginawang sanction doon sa nagkasala.

INTERVIEWER: Pero sana nga ipagbawal ang pagpalo at pagsipa ang nakita natin kahapon.

GORDON: The commanding officer has the right to discipline him right away and to tell the public that this guy is the one. I saw him on tv, suspendido ka. Nakaposas kaagad.

INTERVIEWER: Senador bibigyan ba ninyo ng timetable si General Silverio Alarcio, Jr hanggang mamamaya o hanggang bukas?

GORDON: Nasa batas iyan. Si General Querol at yung mga direct commander officer can immediately conduct rather than an investigation but punishment, suspension even summary dismissal.

Pero dapat din naman na yung mga leaders ay makipag-usap din sa matataas na pulis para malaman kung ano ang dapat maging rules of engagement.

Cong. ETTA ROSALES: I think dapat bilisan natin sa Senado at sa Kamara ang investigation at dapat umaksiyon ang pulis kaagad. May batas kaming ginagawa tungkol dyan.

INTERVIEWER: Malabo yata yung investigation dahil mayroong EO 464. Paano maiimbetahan itong pulis?

GORDON: Ang kailangan d’yan ay wag na tayong mag-imbestiga. Kapag ang pulis hindi ginawa iyan, walang budget. Actually hindi na kailangan iyan. Ang pulis ang dapat gumalaw. Alam ko na matitino naman ang ibang general d’yan. Pwede naman i-dismiss kaagad iyan o isuspinde pero dapat makita ng tao na hindi ginagawa iyan.

ON ANTI-TERRORISM BILL

INTERVIEWER: Ano po ba ang mangyayari dito sa anti-terrorism bill sa Senado?

GORDON: Galing ako sa tourism. I have already promoted this country for business in Subic and I have promoted this country for tourism. Marami tayong taong walang hanapbuhay na umaasa sa investments at turismo.

I sympathize right now doon sa Bali. Talagang basag ang pinggan nila because of terrorism. There was terrorism in Bali last time at nakita ko ang mga waiter ay umiiyak at ang sabi nila natigil ang kanilang mga anak sa paga-aral. Wala pa d’yan ang mga taong namatay.

One of the things worth considering is the air force bill. Yung sinasabi ko na tinanggal nila ang air force has made us more vulnerable. Pwedeng kumuha ng isang Learjet o mag-rent, bombahin, kargahan ng explosives at ibangga iyan doon sa Malampaya(oil depot). Sabog iyan.

Wala tayong terrorist law. In principle I am in favor of it because iyan ang bagong threat sa buong mundo and we have to have an anti-terrorism bill. And you know ibang usapan iyan. I am in the Red Cross at inihanda ko ang Red Cross.

Mayroon kaming rescue truck ngayon because of this terrorist and massive disasters that are happening para mapasok namin yung nasusunog at natambakan. Kompleto iyan ng bagong kagamitan for search and rescue. Mayroon pang tv scanner na nabili. Talagang nag-invest kami d’yan.

We have to have a law against terrorism. If we do not have a law against terrorism, we are exposing our people to harm. So long as we protect the rights of the accused, so long as we don’t allow the State to do illegal things, I think, we can be imaginative enough to craft an anti-terrorism bill and I think we will do that in the Senate.

By Sheila Crisostomo, The Philippine Star 10/06/2005

The Philippines ranked fourth among the top 10 countries hardest hit by disasters in 2004, Red Cross chairman and Sen. Richard Gordon said yesterday.

Citing the International Disaster Database, Gordon noted the Philippines landed in fourth because of the 13 natural disasters that hit the country last year. China topped the list with 25 disasters, followed by the United States with 22 while Indonesia ranked third with 18. Japan was fifth on the list with 12, followed by Turkey with 10; Bangladesh, 10; Nigeria, nine; and Thailand and Russia, eight each.

The record showed that floods and storms were the most common natural disasters that occurred in 2004 while epidemics and earthquakes were responsible for a third and fourth of the disasters, respectively.

The Philippines also registered the fourth highest death toll of 1,619 in a single disaster. This occurred during super typhoon "Winnie," which devastated the Quezon and Aurora provinces late last year. The 12 countries affected by the tsunami in December 2004 accounted for 226,408 deaths, followed by Haiti with 2,754 deaths caused by hurricane Jeanne in September 2004 and Haiti again with 2,665 deaths caused by flooding in May and June 2004.

The database was created by the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters to rationalize decision-making for disaster preparedness. It contains essential information on the occurrence and effects of over 12,800 mass disasters across the world from 1900 to the present.

Gordon admitted that the Philippines is "not thoroughly prepared" for disasters but efforts to modernize the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) are now underway.

"Nobody can really be prepared. Look at the United States. They thought they were prepared" before hurricane Katrina struck, he told reporters. But Gordon boasted that during a recent meeting of Southeast Asian Red Cross leaders in the Philippines, the country was recognized as one of the best in Southeast Asia in terms of disaster preparedness, response and management capability.

"That’s why the Disaster Training and Logistic Center (of the International Red Cross) will be put up here in the Philippines. I really worked hard to get it here. It means that international people will come here to train people and stockpile equipment," he added.

Gordon is eyeing the former US military base in Subic Naval Base in Olongapo City as the site of the center.

Yesterday, Gordon presented before the media a locally assembled 16-wheeler "Disaster Response Truck" that is fully equipped with various equipment used in rescue operations. He said that with the equipment, trained staff and volunteers of the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) would be able to respond to all types of accidents and disasters.

The truck contains modern apparatus like a search camera which is used to find people buried under rubble and tools that can easily cut through iron bars to free trapped victims